Real-Time Comparison of Athletic Information

ABSTRACT

An apparatus compares athletic information relating to a user performing an athletic activity. The apparatus has a module ( 503, 505, 509 ) that generates a first set of athletic data corresponding to athletic information corresponding to the athletic activity performed by the user. The module has a memory ( 511 ) storing a second set of athletic data. The module compares the first set of athletic data to the second set of athletic data and communicates content to the user based on the comparison of the first set of athletic data to the second set of athletic data. The apparatus also has a module ( 803, 805 ) that determines the expected time of athletic activity and selects a set of feedback data having a duration proximate the expected time of athletic activity, wherein the module communicates the selected set of feedback data to the user.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to co-pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/031,941, filed Feb. 15, 2008 andentitled “Real-Time Comparison of Athletic Information,” which claimspriority benefits to U.S. Provisional Patent Appln. No. 60/890,223,filed Feb. 16, 2007, in the name of Roberto Tagliabue and entitled“Real-Time Comparison of Athletic Information.” The priorityapplications are entirely incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the real-time comparison of athleticinformation. Some aspects of the invention have particular applicabilityto the generation of athletic data while a user is performing anathletic activity, comparing the athletic data with a baseline data, andproviding feedback to the user while the user is still performing theathletic activity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

While most people appreciate the importance of physical fitness, manyhave difficulty finding the motivation required to maintain a regularexercise program. Some people find it particularly difficult to maintainan exercise regimen that involves continuously repetitive motions, suchas running, walking and bicycling.

Experienced athletes and trainers have found that immediate and directfeedback provides many people with motivation to maximize the effort oftheir athletic activity. If a person is exercising with weights in gym,for example, a personal trainer will frequently provide that personwords of encouragement, advice on lifting form, or other contemporaneousfeedback. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to obtain direct feedbackfor some types of athletic activity, such as when a person is walkingalone, running alone, riding a bicycle alone, or other solitary athleticactivity away from sophisticated exercise equipment. Some manufacturersprovide monitoring devices, such as heart rate monitors, pedometers,odometers and the like that a user can view while performing an athleticactivity. While these monitoring devices do provide immediate feedback,they require the attention of the user, and thus may not providefeedback information when it might be of the most benefit to the user(e.g., as soon as the user begins to drop below or exceed a desiredrunning pace).

In lieu of activity-specific or performance-specific feedback, manyathletes listen to music or other audible content while performing anathletic activity. Some athletes, for example, believe that music orother audible content distracts their minds from monotonous athleticactivities, such as walking, running, or bicycling. Accordingly, manyathletes now use digital music players (i.e., players that play backmusic from a digital file stored on an electronic storage medium) toplay back music during athletic activity sessions. With this type ofmusic player, however, music or other audible content must be downloadedor otherwise transferred from an audible content file storage to thedigital music player. In many cases, however, a user cannot accuratelyestimate how much audible content to transfer to the digital musicplayer. The user may inadvertently transfer too little audible contentto last for the entire duration of his or her planned athletic activity.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Various aspects of the invention relate to the real-time comparison ofathletic information with baseline data, in order to provide immediatefeedback to a user. With some implementations of the invention, athleticinformation obtained from monitoring an athlete during an athleticactivity is used to generate athletic data. The athletic data is thencompared with baseline data. The baseline data may be idealized oractual. For example, the baseline data may be artificially createdathletic data corresponding to an ideal target athletic performancedesired by the user. Alternately, the baseline data may reflect theperformance characteristics of an athletic activity session previouslymade by the user or some other person, such as a professional athlete,personal trainer, or competitor of the user.

If the athletic data is within a desired proximity of the baseline data,then default feedback is provided to the user. If, however, the athleticdata is outside of the desired proximity of the baseline data, thenalternate feedback is selected and provided to the user. Moreover, withsome implementations of the invention, the feedback is part of acontinuous playback of music, so that the user need not divert his orher attention to a monitoring device in order to realize a benefit fromthe feedback.

For example, the feedback may be music played back to the user while theuser is running. Further, the baseline data may be a desired pace. Ifthe athletic data generated by the user's athletic activity is within adesired proximity to the baseline data (e.g., within 10% of the baselinepace value), then the music played back to the user may be music from adefault play list selected by the user. If, however, the athletic datavalues generated by the user's athletic activity are significantly lowerthan the corresponding baseline data values, alternate music with afaster beat may be played back to the user. Alternately or additionally,spoken encouragement or instructions may be provided to the user, toencourage the user to increase his or her athletic performance to matchthe desired baseline data. Similarly, if the athletic data valuesgenerated by the user's athletic activity are significantly higher thanthe corresponding baseline data values, a second set of alternate musicwith a slower beat may be played back to the user. Alternately oradditionally, spoken encouragement or instructions may be provided tothe user, to encourage the user to decrease his or her athleticperformance to match the desired baseline data.

Various implementations of the invention may provide a digital musicplayer for playing back music to a user while he or she is performing anathletic activity. With some of these implementations, a user may inputa desired goal for an athletic activity session. For example, if a useris going to run, the user may input a desired distance for the run. Inresponse to this input, an expected duration time for the athleticactivity session is estimated. An amount of audible contentcorresponding to the expected duration time is then transferred from anaudible content file storage to the digital music player for playbackduring the athletic activity session.

These and other features of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a computing device that may be used to implementvarious examples of the invention.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate an example of an athletic informationmonitoring device that may be employed according to various examples ofthe invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates one environment in which an athletic parametermeasurement device according to various examples of the invention may beemployed.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a feedback control tool that may beemployed to control the feedback provided to a user during an athleticactivity session according to various examples of the invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate types of data that may be employed by afeedback control tool according to various examples of the invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart describing a method of providingreal-time feedback to a user during an athletic activity sessionaccording to various examples of the invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates an automatic feedback selection tool that may beemployed according to various embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart describing the operation of an automaticfeedback selection tool that may be employed according to variousembodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Operating Environment Overview

Aspects of the invention relate to the measurement, collection anddisplay of athletic information. As will be appreciated by those ofordinary skill in the art, athletic information first must be obtainedfrom an individual person. With various implementations of theinvention, one or more different athletic information monitoring devicesmay be used to measure and record athletic information corresponding toathletic activity performed by a person during an athletic activitysession. Typically, an athletic information monitoring device willincorporate a sensor for measuring parameters relating to the personbeing monitored and a computing device for processing the athleticinformation measured by the sensor into athletic data corresponding tothe monitored athletic activity.

Once an athletic information monitoring device has recorded athleticinformation for a person's athletic activity, the person then maytransfer the recorded athletic information to one or more separatedevices, in order to view the recorded athletic information. A user may,for example, download generated and recorded athletic data from anathletic information monitoring device to a separate collection device.The collection device may, in turn, transfer the athletic data collectedfrom the athletic information monitoring device to a separate displayconfiguration device, where the athletic data can be organized andconfigured for subsequent viewing with, e.g., still another device. Aswill be discussed in more detail below, various implementations of theinvention will allow a person to record, collect and display athleticinformation using a group of computing devices communicating over anetwork, such as the Internet.

For example, some implementations of the invention may allow a person tomeasure and record athletic information using a special-purposecomputing device. The user then can transfer athletic data generatedfrom the athletic information to a local computing device, such as apersonal desktop or laptop computer. More particularly, a user candownload recorded athletic data from the athletic information monitoringdevice to a collection software tool on a local computer that acts as a“client” in a computer network. The collection software tool then willtransfer the downloaded athletic data through the network to a remote“server” computer. A display configuration software tool on the remoteserver computer then will save the transferred athletic data. Later, aperson can use the client computer or another local computer to retrievethe stored athletic data from the server computer. In response to adisplay request from a local computer, the display configurationsoftware tool will configure the requested athletic data for display onthe local computer, and then transmit the configured athletic data tothe local computer for display.

Computing Device

Various examples of the invention may be implemented using electroniccircuitry configured to perform one or more functions. For example, withsome embodiments of the invention, the athletic information monitoringdevice, the collection device, the display device or any combinationthereof may be implemented using one or more application-specificintegrated circuits (ASICs). More typically, however, one or morecomponents of various examples of the invention will be implementedusing a programmable computing device executing firmware or softwareinstructions, or by some combination of purpose-specific electroniccircuitry and firmware or software instructions executing on aprogrammable computing device.

Accordingly, FIG. 1 shows one illustrative example of a computer 101that can be used to implement various embodiments of the invention. Asseen in this figure, the computer 101 has a computing unit 103. Thecomputing unit 103 typically includes a processing unit 105 and a systemmemory 107. The processing unit 105 may be any type of processing devicefor executing software instructions, but it will conventionally be amicroprocessor device. The system memory 107 may include both aread-only memory (ROM) 109 and a random access memory (RAM) 111. As willbe appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, both the read-onlymemory (ROM) 109 and the random access memory (RAM) 111 may storesoftware instructions for execution by the processing unit 105.

The processing unit 105 and the system memory 107 are connected, eitherdirectly or indirectly, through a bus 113 or alternate communicationstructure to one or more peripheral devices. For example, the processingunit 105 or the system memory 107 may be directly or indirectlyconnected to additional memory storage, such as the hard disk drive 117,the removable magnetic disk drive 119, the removable optical disk drive121, and the flash memory card 123. The processing unit 105 and thesystem memory 107 also may be directly or indirectly connected to one ormore input devices 125 and one or more output devices 127. The inputdevices 125 may include, for example, a keyboard, touch screen, a remotecontrol pad, a pointing device (such as a mouse, touchpad, stylus,trackball, or joystick), a scanner, a camera or a microphone. The outputdevices 127 may include, for example, a monitor display, television,printer, stereo, or speakers.

Still further, the computing unit 103 will be directly or indirectlyconnected to one or more network interfaces 129 for communicating with anetwork. This type of network interface 129, also sometimes referred toas a “network adapter” or “network interface card” (“NIC”), translatesdata and control signals from the computing unit 103 into networkmessages according to one or more communication protocols, such as theTransmission Control Protocol (TCP), the Internet Protocol (IP), and theUser Datagram Protocol (UDP). These protocols are well known in the art,and thus will not be discussed here in more detail. An interface 129 mayemploy any suitable connection agent for connecting to a network,including, for example, a wireless transceiver, a power line adapter, amodem, or an Ethernet connection.

It should be appreciated that, in addition to the input, output andstorage peripheral devices specifically listed above, the computingdevice may be connected to a variety of other peripheral devices,including some that may perform input, output and storage functions, orsome combination thereof. For example, the computer 101 may be connectedto a digital music player, such as an IPOD® brand digital music playeravailable from Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. As known in the art,this type of digital music player can serve as both an output device fora computer (e.g., outputting music from a sound file or pictures from animage file) and a storage device. In addition, this type of digitalmusic player also can serve as an input device for inputting recordedathletic information, as will be discussed in more detail below.

Of course, still other peripheral devices may be included with orotherwise connected to a computer 101 of the type illustrated in FIG. 1,as is well known in the art. In some cases, a peripheral device may bepermanently or semi-permanently connected to the computing unit 103. Forexample, with many computers, the computing unit 103, the hard diskdrive 117, the removable optical disk drive 121 and a display aresemi-permanently encased in a single housing. Still other peripheraldevices may be removably connected to the computer 101, if desired. Thecomputer 101 may include, for example, one or more communication portsthrough which a peripheral device can be connected to the computing unit103 (either directly or indirectly through the bus 113). Thesecommunication ports may include a parallel bus port or a serial busport, such as a serial bus port using the Universal Serial Bus (USB)standard or the IEEE 1394 High Speed Serial Bus standard (e.g., aFirewire port). Alternately or additionally, the computer 101 mayinclude a wireless data “port,” such as a Bluetooth interface, a Wi-Fiinterface, an infrared data port, or the like.

It should be appreciated that a computing device employed accordingvarious examples of the invention may include more components than thecomputer 101 illustrated in FIG. 1, fewer components than the computer101, or a different combination of components than the computer 101.Some implementations of the invention, for example, may employ one ormore computing devices that are intended to have a very specificfunctionality, such as a digital music player or server computer. Thesecomputing devices may thus omit unnecessary peripherals, such as thenetwork interface 129, removable optical disk drive 121, printers,scanners, external hard drives, etc. Some implementations of theinvention may alternately or additionally employ computing devices thatare intended to be capable of a wide variety of functions, such as adesktop or laptop personal computer. These computing devices may haveany combination of peripheral devices or additional components asdesired.

Athletic Information Monitoring Device

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of an athletic information monitoringdevice 201 that may be employed according to various examples of theinvention to measure athletic information corresponding a user'sathletic activity. As shown in this figure, the athletic informationmonitoring device 201 includes a digital music player 203, an electronicinterface device 205, and an athletic parameter measurement device 207.As will be described in more detail below, the digital music player 203is (releasably) connected to the electronic interface device 205, andthe combination is worn or otherwise carried by the user while he or sheis performing an athletic activity, such as running or walking. Theathletic parameter measurement device 207 also is worn or carried by theuser while he or she is performing an athletic activity, and this device207 measures one or more athletic parameters relating to the athleticperformance being performed by the user. The athletic parametermeasurement device 207 transmits signals to the electronic interfacedevice 205 that correspond to the measured athletic parameter.

The electronic interface device 205 receives the signals from theathletic parameter measurement device 207, and it provides the athleticinformation carried by the signals to the digital music player 203. Theelectronic interface device 205 includes a connector system 209 thatphysically plugs into and connects with a conventional input port 211provided on digital music player 203. The input port 211 into which theconnector system 209 of the electronic interface device 205 connects maybe any desired type of input port for transferring data, such as aparallel data port, a serial data port, an earphone or microphone jack,etc. The connector system 209 may include any suitable connectingdevices, such as wires, pins, electrical connectors, and the like, so asto make an electrical connection or other suitable connection withcorresponding elements provided in the input port 211 of the digitalmusic player 203 (e.g., to allow electronic and/or data communicationsbetween the interface device 205 and the digital music player device203). If necessary or desired, additional securing elements may beprovided to securely connect the interface device 205 to the digitalmusic player 203, such as straps, hooks, buckles, clips, clamps, clasps,retaining elements, mechanical connectors, and the like.

As shown in more detail in FIG. 3, the athletic parameter measurementdevice 207 includes one or more sensors 301 for measuring an athleticparameter associated with a person wearing or otherwise using theathletic parameter measurement device 207. With the illustratedimplementations, for example, the sensors 301A and 301B may beaccelerometers (such as piezoelectric accelerometers) for measuring theacceleration of the athletic parameter measurement device 207 in twoorthogonal directions. The athletic parameter measurement device 207 iscarried or otherwise worn by a user, so that it measures the desiredathletic parameter while the user exercises. For example, as shown inFIG. 4, the athletic parameter measurement device 207 may be located inthe sole of a user's shoe 401 while the user walks or runs. With thisarrangement, the sensors 301 will produce electrical signalscorresponding to the movement of the user's foot. As known in the art,these signals can then be used to generate athletic data representativeof the athletic activity performed by the user.

The athletic parameter measurement device 207 also includes a processor303 for processing the electrical signals output by the sensors 301.With some implementations of the invention, the processor 303 may be aprogrammable microprocessor. For still other implementations of theinvention, however, the processor 303 may be a purpose-specificelectronic circuit device, such as an ASIC. The processor 303 mayperform any desired operation on the signals output from the sensors301, such as curve smoothing, noise filtering, outlier removal,amplification, summation, integration, or the like. The processor 303provides the processed signals to a transmitter 305. The athleticparameter measurement device 207 also includes a power supply 307, forproviding power to the sensors 301, the processor 303, and thetransmitter 305 as needed. The power supply 307 may be, for example, abattery.

The athletic parameter measurement device 207 transmits the processedsignals to the electronic interface device 205, as seen in FIG. 4.Returning now to FIG. 3, the electronic interface device 205 includes areceiver 309 which receives the processed signals transmitted by thetransmitter 305 in the athletic parameter measurement device 207. Thereceiver 309 relays the processed signals to a second processor 311,which processes the signals further. Like the processor 303, theprocessor 311 may perform any desired operation on the processedsignals, such as curve smoothing, noise filtering, outlier removal,amplification, summation, integration, or the like.

The processor 311 provides the processed signals to the computing unit315 through a device interface 313. With various examples of theinvention, the device interface 313 may physically incorporate, e.g.,the input port 211. It also may employ electrical components, softwarecomponents (such as application program interfaces (APIs)), or somecombination thereof. The computing unit 315 may initially store theinformation carried by the processed signals in the memory 317. Also,the computing unit 315 may receive input from and provide output to auser through a user interface 319. The user interface 319 may includeany type of user interface devices, include, e.g., display screens,touchpads, keyboards, joysticks, trackballs and the like.

With various implementations of the invention, the computing unit 315operates on the processed signals provided by the athletic informationmonitoring device 201 to generate a set of athletic data correspondingto the athletic activity performed by the user. For example, if theathletic information monitoring device 201 includes accelerometers formeasuring the movement of the user's foot, the computing unit 315 mayanalyze the processed signals from the athletic information monitoringdevice 201 to generate sets of athletic data describing, e.g., theuser's speed at specific instances during the user's athletic activityand the total distance traveled by the user at each of those specificinstances. Various techniques for determining athletic data fromaccelerometer signals are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No.6,898,550 to Blackadar et al., entitled “Monitoring Activity Of A UserIn Locomotion On Foot,” and issued on May 24, 2005; U.S. Pat. No.6,882,955 to Ohlenbusch et al., entitled “Monitoring Activity Of A UserIn Locomotion On Foot,” and issued on Apr. 19, 2005; U.S. Pat. No.6,876,947 to Darley et al., entitled “Monitoring Activity Of A User InLocomotion On Foot,” and issued on Apr. 5, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,652to Ohlenbusch et al., entitled “Monitoring Activity Of A User InLocomotion On Foot,” and issued on Dec. 10, 2002; U.S. Pat. No.6,298,314 to Blackadar et al., entitled “Detecting The Starting AndStopping Of Movement Of A Person On Foot,” and issued on Oct. 2, 2001;U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,654 to Gaudet et al., entitled “Measuring FootContact Time And Foot Loft Time Of A Person In Locomotion,” and issuedon Apr. 18, 2000; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,705 to Gaudet et al., entitled“Measuring Foot Contact Time And Foot Loft Time Of A Person InLocomotion,” and issued on Jan. 25, 2000; each of which is incorporatedentirely herein by reference.

Each athletic data set may also include a time value associated witheach speed value and/or each distance value. If the athletic informationmonitoring device 201 can be employed to collect athletic informationfrom different users, then the computing unit 315 may additionallyprompt the user to identify himself or herself in some way. Thisidentification information may then be included or otherwise associatedwith each athletic data set generated from the information provided bythe athletic information monitoring device 201. Once the computing unit315 has generated a set of athletic data from the information providedby the athletic information monitoring device 201, the computing unit315 may store the athletic data set in the memory 317. As will bediscussed in more detail below, when the digital music player 203subsequently is connected to a computing device implementing an athleticinformation collection tool, the computing unit 315 will download theathletic data to the collection tool.

While wireless communication between the athletic parameter measurementdevice 207 and the interface device 205 is described for the embodimentsillustrated in FIGS. 2-4, any desired manner of communicating betweenthe athletic parameter measurement device 207 and the interface device205 may be used without departing from the invention, including wiredconnections. Also, any desired way of placing data derived from thephysical or physiological data from the athletic parameter measurementdevice 207 in the proper form or format for display on or output fromdigital music player 203 may be provided without departing from theinvention. For example, if desired, the athletic parameter measurementdevice 207 may be specially designed and/or programmed for use with oneor more specific digital music players 203 or other electronic devices,e.g., pre-programmed and/or wired to operate with a specific device ordevices 203 and to provide output data in a form and format suitable forthose devices 203. In this situation, the interface devices 205 may bemarketed and sold to specifically target certain electronic devices 203,such as specific models of digital music players and even otherelectronic devices, such as telephones, watches, personal digitalassistants, etc. As another alternative, if desired, the interfacedevices 205 may be programmed at a later time to operate with a widevariety of different electronic devices, e.g., by downloading display ordevice driver and/or format data for specific electronic devices fromthe Internet, from disk, or from another source, etc.

If desired, in accordance with at least some examples of this invention,the electronic interface device 205 and/or the digital music player 203may further include a display 220 and/or a user input system 222, suchas one or more rotary input devices, switches, buttons (as shown in theillustrated example in FIG. 2), mouse or trackball elements, touchscreens, or the like, or some combination thereof. The display 220 maybe employed to show, for example, information relating to music beingplayed by the digital music player 203, information relating to theathletic information signals being received by the digital music player203, athletic data being generated by the digital music player 203 fromthe received athletic information signals, etc. The user input system222 may be employed, for example: to control one or more aspects of theprocessing of the input data received via interface device 205, tocontrol input data receipt (e.g., timing, types of information received,on-demand data requests, etc.), to control data output to or by theelectronic device 203, to control the athletic parameter measurementdevice 207, etc. Alternatively or additionally, if desired, the inputsystem on the digital music player 203 (e.g., buttons 222, a touchscreen, a digitizer/stylus based input, a rotary input device, atrackball or roller ball, a mouse, etc.), may be used to provide userinput data to the interface device 205 and/or to the athletic parametermeasurement device 207. As still another example, if desired, a voiceinput system may be provided with the interface device 205 and/or thedigital music player 203, e.g., to enable user input via voice commands.Any other desired type of user input system, for control of any systemelements and/or for any purpose, may be provided without departing fromthe invention.

The digital music player 203 may include additional input and/or outputelements, e.g., such as ports 224 and 226 shown in FIG. 2, e.g., forheadphones (or other audio output), power supplies, wirelesscommunications, infrared input, microphone input, or other devices. Ifdesired, and if these ports 224 and/or 226 would be covered when theinterface device 205 is attached to the electronic device 203, theinterface device 205 may be equipped with similar external ports toports 224 and/or 226, and internal circuitry may be provided in theinterface device 205 to enable the user to plug the same additionaldevices into the interface device 205 as they might plug into thedigital music player 203 and still take advantage of the same functions(e.g., to thereby allow the necessary data, signals, power, and/orinformation to pass through the interface device 205 to the user, toanother output, and/or to the digital music player 203).

It should be appreciated that, while some specific embodiments of theinvention described above relate to a digital music player 203,alternate examples of the invention may be implemented using anyportable electronic device. For example, with some implementations ofthe invention, the athletic parameter measurement device 207 may be usedin conjunction with a mobile telephone, a watch, a personal digitalassistant, another type of music player (such as a compact disc orsatellite radio music player), a portable computer, or any other desiredelectronic device. Still further, some implementations of the inventionmay alternately or additionally omit the use of the interface device205. For example, the athletic parameter measurement device 207 may beconfigured to communicate using the Bluetooth wireless communicationprotocol, so that it can be employed with Bluetooth-capable mobiletelephones, personal digital assistants, watches or personal computers.Of course, still other wireless or wired communication techniques couldbe employed while omitting the interface device 205.

It also should be appreciated that, while a specific example of anathletic parameter measurement device 207 has been described above forease of understanding, any type of desired athletic parametermeasurement device 207 can be employed with various embodiments of theinvention. For example, with some implementations of the invention, theathletic parameter measurement device 207 may be a heart rate monitor, ablood oxygen monitor, a satellite positioning device (e.g., a GlobalPositioning Satellite (GPS) navigation device), a device for measuringthe electrical activity of the user (e.g., an EKG monitor), or any otherdevice that measures one or more physical parameters of the user. Stillfurther, the athletic parameter measurement device 207 may measure oneor more operational parameters of some device being manipulated by theuser, such as the speed and/or distance of a bicycle; the speed and/orwork performed by a treadmill, rowing machine, elliptical machine,stationary bicycle, or the like; the speed and/or distance traveled byskis (water or snow), skates (roller or ice), or snowshoes or the likeworn by the user; etc.

Also, while the athletic parameter measurement device 207 has beendescribed as being separate from the digital music player 203, with someimplementations of the invention the athletic parameter measurementdevice 207 may be incorporated into the digital music player 203 oranother electronic device. For example, some implementations of theinvention may employ a music player, mobile telephone, watch or personaldigital assistant that incorporates accelerometers, a satellitepositioning device, or any other desired device for measuring someparameter of athletic activity. Still further, it should be appreciatedthat various implementations of the invention may employ a plurality ofathletic parameter measurement devices 207, incorporated into thedigital music player 203 or other portable electronic device, separatefrom the digital music player 203, or some combination thereof.

Feedback Control Tools

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of feedback control tool 501 that may beemployed to control the feedback provided to a user during an athleticactivity session. As shown in this figure, the feedback control tool 501includes an athletic data comparison module 503, and a feedbackdetermination module 505. As will be discussed in more detail below, thefeedback control tool 501 may be implemented in, e.g., a digital musicplayer that also includes a device interface 507, an athletic datageneration module 509, and a memory 511. Each of the athletic datacomparison module 503, the feedback determination module 505 and theathletic data generation module 509 may be implemented by, for example,software instructions executed by a computing unit 103 of a computingdevice 101.

The device interface 507 receives athletic information from the athleticinformation monitoring device 201. The device interface 507 may beimplemented by, e.g., a device interface 313 of the type previouslydiscussed, using, e.g., electrical components, software components (suchas application program interfaces (APIs)), or some combination thereof.

The athletic data generation module 509, which may be implemented usinga computing unit 315 as previously discussed, operates on signalsprovided by an athletic information monitoring device 201 to generate aset of athletic data corresponding to the athletic activity performed bythe user. For example, if the athletic information monitoring device 201includes accelerometers for measuring the movement of the user's foot,the athletic data generation module 509 may analyze the processedsignals from the athletic information monitoring device 201 to generatesets of athletic data describing, e.g., the user's speed at specificinstances during the user's athletic activity and the total distancetraveled by the user at each of those specific instances. Varioustechniques for determining athletic data from accelerometer signals aredescribed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,898,550 to Blackadar et al.,entitled “Monitoring Activity Of A User In Locomotion On Foot,” andissued on May 24, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,882,955 to Ohlenbusch et al.,entitled “Monitoring Activity Of A User In Locomotion On Foot,” andissued on Apr. 19, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,876,947 to Darley et al.,entitled “Monitoring Activity Of A User In Locomotion On Foot,” andissued on Apr. 5, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,652 to Ohlenbusch et al.,entitled “Monitoring Activity Of A User In Locomotion On Foot,” andissued on Dec. 10, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,314 to Blackadar et al.,entitled “Detecting The Starting And Stopping Of Movement Of A Person OnFoot,” and issued on Oct. 2, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,654 to Gaudet etal., entitled “Measuring Foot Contact Time And Foot Loft Time Of APerson In Locomotion,” and issued on Apr. 18, 2000; and U.S. Pat. No.6,018,705 to Gaudet et al., entitled “Measuring Foot Contact Time AndFoot Loft Time Of A Person In Locomotion,” and issued on Jan. 25, 2000,each of which is incorporated entirely herein by reference.

The memory 511 (which may be implemented using a memory 317 of the typediscussed in detail above) may store athletic data sets generated by theathletic data generation module 509. With various examples of theinvention, however, the memory 511 also includes baseline data 513 and aplurality of groups of feedback data 515. The baseline data 513typically will have one or more data values corresponding to theathletic data values generated by the athletic data generation module509. For example, turning to FIG. 6A, the athletic data 601 generated bythe athletic data generation module 509 will include a series of datasets (e.g., athletic data 1, athletic data 2, athletic data 3, athleticdata 4 . . . athletic data n) at various times during the user'sathletic activity session. Each data set will include at least one datavalue, such as a pace or distance value. The baseline data 513 similarlyincludes a series of data sets (e.g., baseline data 1, baseline data 2,baseline data 3, baseline data 4 . . . baseline data n) corresponding tothe athletic data sets generated by the athletic data generation module509. As will be discussed in more detail below, the baseline data 513can be played back by the digital music player 203 along with, e.g.,feedback in the form of audible content while the user is performing anathletic activity for comparison with the athletic data 601 generated bythe athletic data generation module 509.

It should be noted that the baseline data 513 may be any data desired bythe user. For example, the baseline data 513 may be athletic data 601created during a previously completed athletic activity session. Thisarrangement allows a user to, for example, employ the results of aparticularly successful athletic activity session as a baseline to whichfuture athletic activity sessions should be compared to determine theuser's performance improvement. Various implementations of the inventionmay alternately or additionally allow a user to manually create thebaseline data 513. This arrangement allows a user to, for example,create an ideal performance standard for athletic activity sessions.Still further, some implementations of the invention may alternately oradditionally allow a user to employ athletic data generated by anotherperson as the baseline data 513. This arrangement allows the user tocompare his or her athletic activity performance with, e.g., aprofessional athlete, a personal trainer, a competitor or the like.

It should be appreciated that, like the athletic data 601, the values ofthe baseline data 513 may change over time. For example, the baselinedata 513 may include a relatively slow pace value for early in theathletic activity session, with a higher pace value for the middle ofthe athletic activity session. The baseline data 513 can then return tolower pace values (or other desired pace values) for the end of theactivity session.

As previously noted, the memory 511 may include a plurality of groups offeedback data 515. As shown in FIG. 6B, each group 603 of feedback data515 may include a series of feedback data values that can be played backby the digital music player 203 to the user. Typically, a group 603 offeedback data 515 will be audible content, such as music or spokencontent. With some implementations of the invention, however, a group603 of feedback data 515 may alternately or additionally include visualcontent or tangible content (e.g., signal to provide a mild electricalshock or vibrational response to the user).

The feedback data 515 typically will include a feedback data group 603representing a default feedback for the user during an athletic activitysession. This default feedback data group 603 may be, for example, amusic playlist selected by the user of preferred music. The feedbackdata 515 also may include one or more alternate feedback data groups603. These alternate feedback data groups 603 have values that areconfigured to influence the performance of the user's athletic activityrelative to the default feedback data group 603. For example, onealternate feedback data group 603 may be music that has a 10% fasterrhythm than the music of the default feedback data group 603. A secondalternate feedback data group 603 may have a 20% faster rhythm than themusic of the default feedback data group 603, while a third alternatefeedback data group 603 may be music that has a 10% slower rhythm thanthe music of the default feedback data group 603 and a fourth alternatefeedback data group 603 may have a 20% slower rhythm than the music ofthe default feedback data group 603. Alternately or additionally, thealternate feedback groups 603 may include spoken content designed toinfluence the athletic performance of the user, such as words ofencouragement or performance instructions.

The operation of the feedback control tool 501 now will be discussedwith regard to FIG. 7. Initially, in step 701, the athletic datageneration module 509 obtains athletic information from the athleticparameter measurement device 207. Next, in step 703, the athletic datageneration module 509 generates athletic data from the received athleticinformation as discussed in detail above. After the athletic data hasbeen generated by the athletic data generation module 509, the athleticdata comparison module 503 retrieves the baseline data 513 from thememory 511, and compares the retrieved baseline data 513 with thegenerated athletic data 601 in step 705.

Next, in step 707 the athletic data comparison module 503 determineswhether each value of the athletic data 601 is within a desiredproximity to the corresponding value of the baseline data 513. Thisdesired proximity can be determined using any suitable or desiredstandard of measurement, including, e.g., by percentage or by a specificnumerical values. For example, a particularly baseline data value may bea pace of 1 mile per 12 minutes. With some implementations of theinvention, a corresponding measured athletic activity value may beoutside of the desired proximity if it is below 10% of this pace. Withstill other implementations of the invention, however, a correspondingathletic activity value may be outside of the desired proximity if it isbelow 1 mile per 16 minutes.

It also should be noted that the range of desired proximity may varybetween athletic data values above the corresponding baseline data valueand athletic data values below the corresponding baseline data value.For example, a lower athletic data value may be outside of the desiredproximity of the corresponding baseline data value if it is only 5% ormore below the baseline data value, but a higher athletic data value maynot be outside of the proximity of the corresponding baseline data valueunless it is more than 10% above the baseline data value.

Next, the feedback determination module 505 selects the group 603 offeedback data 515 that will be provided to the user based upon thecomparison results determined by the athletic data comparison module503. For example, if the athletic data comparison module 503 hasdetermined that the current athletic data value is within the desiredproximity of its corresponding baseline data value, then the feedbackdetermination module 505 will select the default group 603 of feedbackdata 515 in step 709. On the other hand, if the athletic data comparisonmodule 503 has determined that the current athletic data value isoutside of the desired proximity of its corresponding baseline datavalue, then the feedback determination module 505 will select analternate group 603 of feedback data 515 in step 711.

With various examples of the invention, the feedback determinationmodule 505 may determine an alternate feedback data group 603 based, atleast in part, on the degree to which the measured athletic data valuedeviated from its corresponding baseline data value. For example, if theathletic data value is a pace that was approximately 10% slower than thebaseline data value, then the feedback determination module 505 mayselect a feedback data group 603 that will play back music with a rhythm10% faster than the default feedback data group 603. Similarly, if theathletic data value is a pace that was approximately 20% slower than thebaseline data value, then the feedback determination module 505 mayselect a feedback data group 603 that will play back music with a rhythm20% faster than the default feedback data group 603. Alternately oradditionally, the feedback determination module 505 may select afeedback data group 603 that will play back spoken content stronglyencouraging the user to increase his or her pace.

In this manner, various implementations of the invention provide a userwith immediate feedback when he or she deviates from a desired baselineathletic performance. Moreover, the feedback can be provided on acontinuous basis without requiring the specific attention of the userduring the athletic activity.

Automatic Selection Of Feedback

As will be discussed in more detail below, various examples of theinvention may alternately or additionally assist a user by automaticallyselecting the amount of feedback data that will be provided to the userduring an athletic activity session. Referring now to FIG. 8, thisfigure illustrates an automatic feedback selection tool 801 that may beemployed according to various embodiments of the invention. Theautomatic feedback selection tool 801 includes a session timedetermination module 803 and an audible content selection module 805.The automatic feedback selection tool 801 cooperates with a userinterface 809, a memory 811, and an audible content data storage device813 to automatically select audible content for playback to a user by adigital music player 203 during an athletic activity session.

As discussed in detail above, various examples of the invention monitorthe athletic activity of a user and generate athletic data in response.As also discussed in detail above, this athletic data may include valuesthat describe the athletic performance of the user in units of time,such as pace or speed values. Based upon these time-dependent athleticdata values, the session time determination module 803 will estimate anexpected time duration of a new athletic activity session. The audiblecontent selection module 805 will then select an amount of audiblecontent that will match or exceed the expected time duration, andtransfer the selected audible content to the digital music player 203for playback during the athletic activity session.

The operation of the automatic feedback selection tool 801 will now bedescribed in more detail with regard to the flowchart illustrated inFIG. 9. Initially, in step 901, the automatic feedback selection tool801 receives athletic distance information from a user. The distanceinformation may be provided to the session time determination module 803through the user interface 809. The distance information may be, forexample, a distance that the user intends to travel during an upcomingathletic activity session.

Next, in step 903, the session time determination module 803 obtains atime-dependent athletic data value from the memory 811. Thetime-dependent athletic data value may be, for example, a time-dependentathletic data value, such as a pace or speed, generated during aprevious athletic activity session by the user. Alternately, thetime-dependent athletic data value may be an average or otheraggregation of time-dependent athletic data values from multipleprevious athletic activity sessions by the user. Still further, thetime-dependent athletic data value may be an arbitrary value selected bya user, such as a desired pace or speed for an upcoming athleticactivity session. It should be noted that, if the time-dependentathletic data value is an arbitrary value selected by a user, then itmay be input directly to the session time determination module 803 bythe user through the user interface 809 rather than retrieved from thememory 811.

Next, in step 905, the session time determination module 803 uses thetime-dependent athletic data value and the provided distance input toestimate a duration time of the upcoming athletic activity session. Forexample, if the time-dependent athletic data value is a pace of 1 mileper 12 minutes (representing, e.g., an average pace from the user'sprevious 25 recorded athletic activity sessions) and the user hasprovided a distance input of 4 miles, then the session timedetermination module 803 will determine the expected session duration tobe 48 minutes.

In step 907, the audible content selection module 805 downloads anamount of audible content from the audible content file storage 813 thatmatches or exceeds the expected session duration time estimated by thesession time determination module 803. Thus, with the previous example,the audible content selection module 805 will select and download atleast 48 minutes or more of audible content from the audible contentfile storage 813 to the digital music player 203. The audible contentmay be selected using any desired criteria, such as a random selection,sequential selection from a playlist, or using a more sophisticatedselection algorithm designed to accurately match audible content fileswith the expected session duration time.

It should be appreciated that, with various implementations of theinvention, the session time determination module 803 and the audiblecontent selection module 805 may implemented by, for example, softwareinstructions executed by a computing unit 103 of a computing device 101.Also, with some examples of the invention, the session timedetermination module 803, the audible content selection module 805, theuser interface 809 and the memory 811 may be implemented by the digitalmusic player 203, while the audible content file storage 813 may behosted by a separate computing device, such as a desktop or laptoppersonal computer. With still other examples of the invention, however,one or more of the session time determination module 803, the audiblecontent selection module 805, the user interface 809 and the memory 811may be implemented by the separate computing device hosting the audiblecontent file storage 813.

Thus, various examples of the invention provide for the automaticselection of audible content for playback to a user during an athleticactivity session based upon an expected time duration for that session,so that the amount of audible content available to the user is certainto match or exceed the expected time duration for the athletic activitysession. It should be appreciated that, however, that while particularexamples of the invention have been described with respect to audiblefeedback, such as music, spoken words, or other audible content, otherimplementations of the invention may be employed to automatically selectany desired type of feedback, including visual feedback.

CONCLUSION

While the invention has been described with respect to specific examplesincluding presently preferred modes of carrying out the invention, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variationsand permutations of the above described systems and techniques that fallwithin the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of comparing athletic informationrelating to a user performing an athletic activity, the methodcomprising: receiving, by an athletic activity feedback device, athleticperformance information during performance of athletic activity by theuser in a first athletic activity session; generating, by the athleticactivity feedback device during the first athletic activity session, afirst set of athletic data from the athletic information received;retrieving a second set of athletic data corresponding to the first setof athletic data from baseline athletic activity data, wherein thebaseline athletic activity data comprises a plurality of sets ofathletic data previously generated for athletic activity performed bythe user at different times during a second athletic activity sessiondifferent from the first athletic activity session; comparing thegenerated first set of athletic data with the retrieved second set ofathletic data; determining, by the feedback device and based on thecomparing, whether at least one metric of the first set of athletic datais within a predefined proximity range relative to a corresponding valueof a corresponding metric of the second set of athletic data; selecting,from a feedback data group including a plurality of sets of feedbackdata, a first feedback data set to audibly communicate to the user inresponse to determining that the at least one metric of the first set ofathletic data is within the predefined proximity range relative to thecorresponding value of the corresponding metric of the second set ofathletic data, wherein the predefined proximity range is greater thanzero; and selecting, from the feedback data group, a second feedbackdata set to audibly communicate to the user in response to determiningthat the at least one metric of the first set of athletic data is notwithin the predefined proximity range of the corresponding value of thecorresponding metric of the second set of athletic data, the secondfeedback data set being configured to influence the user's performanceof the athletic activity relative to the first feedback data set.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first feedback data set is a default dataset.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the default data set includes amusic playlist selected by the user.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe music playlist includes music having a rhythm expected by the user.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second feedback data set includesmusical content having a faster rhythm than the first feedback data set.6. The method of claim 1, further including: determining a firstpercentage which the at least one metric of the first set of athleticdata deviated from a corresponding value of a corresponding metric ofthe second set of athletic data; and based on the determined firstpercentage, selecting, by a feedback determination module, the secondfeedback data set having a rhythm that is the first percentage differentfrom the first feedback data set.
 7. The method of claim 6, furtherincluding: responsive to determining that the at least one metric of thefirst set of athletic data is below the corresponding value of thecorresponding metric of the second set of athletic data, selecting thesecond feedback data having a faster rhythm than the first feedback dataset; and responsive to determining that the at least one metric of thefirst set of athletic data is above the corresponding value of thecorresponding metric of the second set of athletic data, selecting thesecond feedback data having a slower rhythm than the first feedback dataset.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the second feedback data setincludes musical content having a slower rhythm than the first feedbackdata set.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second athletic activitysession is selected by the user for comparison with the first athleticactivity session.
 10. The method of claim 1, further including:selecting one of: an audible message to the user that the first set ofathletic data is outside of the predefined proximity range of thebaseline data, and an audible message to the user that the first set ofathletic data is within the predefined proximity range of the baselinedata.
 11. An apparatus for comparing athletic information relating to auser performing an athletic activity, the apparatus comprising: at leastone processor; and memory operatively coupled to the at least oneprocessor and storing computer readable instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the apparatus to: receive athletic performanceinformation during performance of athletic activity by the user in afirst athletic activity session; generate, during the first athleticactivity session, a first set of athletic data from the athleticinformation received; retrieve a second set of athletic datacorresponding to the first set of athletic data from baseline athleticactivity data, wherein the baseline athletic activity data comprises aplurality of sets of athletic data previously generated for athleticactivity performed by the user at different times during a secondathletic activity session different from the first athletic activitysession; compare the generated first set of athletic data with theretrieved second set of athletic data; determine, based on thecomparing, whether at least one metric of the first set of athletic datais within a predefined proximity range relative to a corresponding valueof a corresponding metric of the second set of athletic data; select,from a feedback data group including a plurality of sets of feedbackdata, a first feedback data set to audibly communicate to the user inresponse to determining that the at least one metric of the first set ofathletic data is within the predefined proximity range relative to thecorresponding value of the corresponding metric of the second set ofathletic data, wherein the predefined proximity range is greater thanzero; and select, from the feedback data group, a second feedback dataset to audibly communicate to the user in response to determining thatthe at least one metric of the first set of athletic data is not withinthe predefined proximity range of the corresponding value of thecorresponding metric of the second set of athletic data, the secondfeedback data set being configured to influence the user's performanceof the athletic activity relative to the first feedback data set. 12.The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first feedback data set is adefault data set.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the defaultdata set includes a music playlist selected by the user.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the music playlist includes music havinga rhythm expected by the user.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, whereinthe second feedback data set includes musical content having a fasterrhythm than the first feedback data set.
 16. The apparatus of claim 11,further including instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatusto: determine a first percentage which the at least one metric of thefirst set of athletic data deviated from a corresponding value of acorresponding metric of the second set of athletic data; and based onthe determined first percentage, select the second feedback data sethaving a rhythm that is the first percentage different from the firstfeedback data set.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, further includinginstructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus to: responsive todetermining that the at least one metric of the first set of athleticdata is below the corresponding value of the corresponding metric of thesecond set of athletic data, select the second feedback data having afaster rhythm than the first feedback data set; and responsive todetermining that the at least one metric of the first set of athleticdata is above the corresponding value of the corresponding metric of thesecond set of athletic data, select the second feedback data having aslower rhythm than the first feedback data set.
 18. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the second feedback data set includes musical contenthaving a slower rhythm than the first feedback data set.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the second athletic activity session isselected by the user for comparison with the first athletic activitysession.
 20. The apparatus of claim 11, further including instructionsthat, when executed, cause the apparatus to: select one of: an audiblemessage to the user that the first set of athletic data is outside ofthe predefined proximity range of the baseline data, and an audiblemessage to the user that the first set of athletic data is within thepredefined proximity range of the baseline data